tinue it, said, "Conrad, you have lived long among the white people, and know something of their customs; I have been sometimes at Albany, and have observed, that once in seven days they shut up their shops and assemble all in the great house; tell me what it is for; What do they do there ?" "They meet there," says Conrad, "to hear and learn good things." "I do not doubt," says the Indian, "that they tell you so; they have told me the same: but I doubt the truth of what they say, and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately to Albany to sell iny skins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson; but I was a ltttle inclined this time try some other merchants. However, I called first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver. He said he could not give more than four shillings a pound: but, says he, I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet together to learn good things, and I am going to the meeting. So I thought to myself, since I cannot do any business to-day, I may as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said; but perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so I went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe, waiting till the meeting should break up. I thought too, that the man had mentioned something of beaver; and I suspected it might be the subject of their meeting. So, when they came out, I accosted my merchant, "Well, Hans, (says I,) I hope you have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound." "No," says he, "I cannot give so much; I cannot give more than three shillings and sixpence." I then spoke to several other dealers, but they all sung the same song, three and sixpence, three and sixpence. This made it clear to me that my suspicion was right; and that, whatever they pretended of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they met so often to learn good things, they would certainly have learned some before this time. But they are still ignorant. You know our practice: If a white man, in travelling through our country enters one of our cabins, we all treat him as I do you; we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirst and hunger; and we spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on: we demand

nothing in return. But if I go into a white man's house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they вау, where is your money? And if I haye none, they say, Get out, you Indian dog. You see that they have not learned those little good things that we need no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers. taught them us when we were children; and therefore it is impossible their meetings should be, as they say, for any such purpose, or have any such effect; they are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver."

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To M. DUBOURG, CONCERNING THE DISSENTIONS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

London, October 2, 1770.

I SEE with pleasure, that we think pretty much alike on the subjects of English America. We of the colonies have never insisted that we ought to be exempt from contributing to the common expenses necessary to support the prosperity of the empire. We only assert that having parliaments of our own, and not having representatives in that of Great Britain, our parliaments are the only judges of what we can and what we ought to contribute in this case; and that the English parliament has no right to take our money without our consent. In fact, the British empire is not a single state; it comprehends many; and though the parliament of Great Britain has arrogated to itself the power of taxing the colonies, it has no more right to do so than it has to tax Hanover. We have the same king, but not the same legislature.

The dispute between the two countries has already cost England many millions sterling, which it has lost in its commerce, and America has in this respect

* It is remarkable that in all ages and countries, hospitality has been allowed as the virtue of those, whom the civilized were pleased to call barbarians: the Greeks celebrated the Scythians for it; the Saracens possessed it eminently; and it is to this day the reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul, too, in the relation of his voyage and shipwreck, on the island of Melita, says, "The barbarous people showed us no little kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold." This note is taken from a small collection of Franklin's papers printed for Dilly.

been a proportionable gainer. This commerce consisted principally of superfluities; objects of luxury, and fashion, which we can well do without; and the resolution we have formed, of importing no more till our grievances are redressed, has enabled many of our infant manufactures to take root; and it will not be easy to make our people abandon them in future, even should a connexion more cordial than ever succeed the present troubles.-I have, indeed, no doubt, that the parliament of England will finally abandon its present pretensions, and leave us to the peaceable enjoyment of our rights and privileges. B. FRANKLIN.

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A COMPARISON OF THE CONDUCT OF THE ANCIENT JEWS, AND OF THE ANTI-FEDERALISTS, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A ZEALOUS advocate for the proposed Federal Constitution in a certain public assembly said, that "the repugnance of a great part of mankind to good government was such, that he believed, that if an angel from heaven was to bring down a constitution formed there for our use, it, would nevertheless meet with violent opposition." He was reproved for the supposed extravagance of the sentiment; and he did not justify it. -Probably it might not have immediately occurred to him, that the experiment had been tried, and that the event was recorded in the most faithful of all histories, the Holy Bible; otherwise he might, as it seems to me, have supported his opinion by that unexceptionable authority.

The Supreme Being had been pleased to nourish up a single family, by continued acts of his attentive providence, until it became a great people: and having rescued them from bondage by many miracles performed by his servant Moses, he personally delivered to that chosen servant, in presence of the whole nation, a constitution and code of laws for their observance; accompanied and sanctioned with promises of great rewards, and threats of severe punishments, as the consequence of their obedience or disobedience.

This constitution, though the Deity himself was to be at its head (and it is therefore called by political writers a theocracy) could not be carried into execution but by means of his ministers: Aaron and his sons were therefore commissioned to be, with Moses, the first established ministry of the new government.

One would have thought that the appointment of men, who had distinguished themselves in procuring the liberty of their nation, and had hazarded their lives in openly opposing the will of a powerful monarch who would have retained that nation in slavery, might have been an appointment acceptable to a grateful people; and that a constitution framed for them by the Deity himself, might on that account have been secure of a universal welcome reception. Yet there were, in every one of the twelve tribes, some discontented, restless spirits, who were continually exciting them to reject the proposed new government, and this from various motives.

Many still retained an affection for Egypt, the land of their nativity; and these, whenever they felt any inconvenience or hardship, through the natural and unavoidable effect of their change of situation, exclaimed against their leaders as the authors of their trouble; and were not only for returning into Egypt, but for stoning their deliverers. Those inclined to idolatry were displeased that their golden calf was destroyed. Many of the chiefs thought the new constitution might be injurious to their particular interests: that the profitable places would be engrossed by the families and friends of Moses and Aaron, and others equally wellborn excluded.t-In Josephus, and the Talmud, we learn some particulars, not so fully narrated in the Scripture. We are there told, "that Korah was ambitious of the priesthood; and offended that it was conferred on Aaron; and this, as he said, by the authority of Moses only, without the consent of the people. He accused Moses of having, by various artifices, fraudulently obtained the government, and deprived the people of their liberties; and of conspiring with Aaron to perpetuate the tyranny in their family. Thus, though Korah's real motive was the supplanting of Aaron, he persuaded the people that he meant only the public good; and they, moved by his insinuations, began to cry out,-'Let us maintain the common liberty of our respective tribes; we have freed ourselves from the slavery imposed upon us by the Egyptians, and shall we suffer ourselves to be made slaves by Moses?

Numbers, ch. xiv.

Numbers, ch. xvi, ver. 3. "And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregations are holy, every one of them,-wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation ?”

If we must have a master, it were better to return to Pharaoh, who at least fed us with bread and onions, than to serve this new tyrant, who by his operations has brought us into danger of famine. They then called in question the reality of his conferences with God; and objected to the privacy of the meetings, and the preventing any of the people from being present at the colloquies, or even approaching the place, as grounds of great suspicion. They accused Moses also of peculation; as embezzling part of the golden spoons and the silver chargers, that the princes had offered at the dedication of the altar,* and the offerings of gold by the common people,† as well as most of the poll tax; and Aaron they accused of pocketing much of the gold, of which he pretended to have made a molten calf. Besides peculation, they charged Moses with ambition; to gratify which passion, he had, they said, deceived the people by promising to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey: instead of doing which, he had brought them from such a land; and that he thought light of all this mischief, provided he could make himself an absolute prince. That, to support the new dignity with splendour in his family, the partial poll tax already levied and given to Aaron|| was to be followed by a general one, which would probably he augmented from time to time, if he were suffered to go on promulgating new laws, on pretence of new occasional revelations of the Divine will, till their whole fortunes were devoured by that aristocracy."

Moses denied the charge of peculation; and his accusers were destitute of proofs to support it; though facts, if real, are in their nature capable of proof. "I have not," said he, (with holy confidence in the presence of God,) I have not taken from this people the value of an ass, nor done them any other injury." But his enemies had made the charge, and with some success among the populace; for no kind of accusation is so readily made, or easily believed, by knaves, as the accusation of knavery.

In fine, no less than two hundred and fifty of the principal men, " famous in the congregation, men of renown,** heading and exciting the mob, worked them

*Numbers, c. vii.

† Exodus, c. xxxv. ver. 22. Numbers, ch. iii. and Exodus, ch. xxx.

Numbers, ch. xvi. ver. 13. " Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us!?

Ibid. ch. iii. Exodus, ch. xxx. ** Numbers, ch.xvi.